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Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?

Pema Chodron

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Pema Chodron
Age: 88
Born: 1936
Born: July 14
Clergyman
Philosopher
Writer
New York City
New York
Deirdre Blomfield-Brow
Death
Certain
Important
Thing
Time
Uncertain
Since

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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It's not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown. It is part of being alive, something we all share.
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Tonglen is a way for you to be with people who need you - beginning with yourself.
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it is only to the extent that we are willing to expose ourselves again and again to annihilation that we are able to find that part of ourselves that is indestructible.
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Life's work is to wake up, to let the things that enter your life wake you up rather than put you to sleep.
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Learning how to be kind to ourselves, learning how to respect ourselves, is important. The reason it's important is that, fundamentally, when we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn't just ourselves that we're discovering. We're discovering the universe.
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If we begin to get in touch with whatever we feel with some kind of kindness, our protective shells will melt, and we'll find that more areas of our lives are workable. AS we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others-what and whom we can work with, and how-becomes wider.
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When people are hurting, what they really need is someone who is fully there for them - not someone who is condescending or officious. The only way for you to be there for them is by facing your fear or anger, whatever feelings cause you to shut down.
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Everything in our lives has the potential to wake us up or put us to sleep. Allowing it to awaken us is up to us.
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This is the tendency of all living things: to avoid pain and to cling to pleasure.
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This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we go.
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It isn't the things that happen to us in our lives that cause us to suffer, it's how we relate to the things that happen to us that causes us to suffer.
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The most complete and true happiness comes in moments when you feel right there, completely present, with no ideas about good and bad, right and wrong - just a sense of open heart and open mind.
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The more neurosis the more wisdom.
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Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.
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When we touch the center of sorrow, when we sit with discomfort without trying to fix it, when we stay present to the pain of disapproval or betrayal and let it soften us, these are times that we connect with bohdichitta.
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Never give up on yourself. Then you will never give up on others.
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It is possible to move through the drama of our lives without believing so earnestly in the character that we play.
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To cultivate equanimity we practice catching ourselves when we feel attraction or aversion, before it hardens into grasping or negativity.
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If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it's fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there's an arrow in your heart.
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As Buddhism moved to the West, one of the big characteristics was the strong place of women. That didn't exist in the countries of origin. It's just a sign of our culture.
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